The present invention relates to a coupling device for fluid lines.
Subsea drilling and production operations include the use of connectors and mandrels that house couplers for the actuation of fluid lines such as control lines. These connectors and mandrels must withstand harsh environmental conditions as well as be adaptable to disconnect quickly in bad weather. The fluid lines extend several hundred to thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean and can be housed in a riser. When the platform must disconnect in an emergency, all the valves and control lines in the riser must be disconnected or severed. These lines are typically controlled by hydraulic couplers that are well known in the art. These couplers are usually severed if the riser bends to a critical angle before the operator can remotely disconnect the riser. If this happens, the couplers are usually damaged beyond the point of being usable. In these emergency quick disconnect situations, it would be desirable to have a connector that could withstand a certain degree of lateral bending without suffering any irreparable damage.
Another issue encountered by subsea drilling and production is the machining of the connector and the mandrel that carry the couplers for the fluid lines. Each item must be precision machined in order to ensure a proper fit for the coupler. This means that if one hole is machined incorrectly, the remaining holes cannot be used and the piece will need to be re-machined. Having an adaptor or housing for the coupler that can be machined to compensate for mismachining of the mandrel or connector would be highly useful. This type of adapter would also be useful for interchanging hydraulic couplers with different mandrels and connectors.